Jerry Brown

By Alexandra Silver

When Jerry Brown last served as governor of California, Ronald Reagan was president. Brown, a three-time presidential candidate himself, ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 1982, but now the 72-year-old Democrat is preparing to reassume his old office in Sacramento. Despite being massively outspent by his Republican opponent, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, he managed to beat Ms. Moneybags in November. And as his reward, Brown  who has kept busy in recent years by serving as mayor of Oakland and as state attorney general  gets to celebrate his victory at the polls by grappling with California's severe deficit woes.